Contactless card payment means you can pay for small purchases (€50 and under) in most retailers by holding your debit or credit card beside a keypad without entering your PIN. For added security, you will be asked to enter your PIN after a certain number of uses.
You can also add your card to your Google PAy wallet or Apple PAy wallet on your smartphone and use your phone to make contactless payments.
What is the Limit on Contactless Card Payments in Ireland?
There is a maximum value for Contactless Payments in Ireland – for cards , it started off at just €15. but the limit was raised to €30 in October 2015 .
The Limit on Contactless Card Payments in Ireland was further increased to €50 in April 2020.
The limit was increased to encourage more contactless payments and help reduce the spread of coronavirus.
For card payments over €50 – you will always have to enter your PIN.
In the UK , the limit on contactless payments rose to £100 pounds from 15 October 2021. We are not aware of any planned increases to the contactless card limit in Ireland.
Is there a Daily Limit on Contactless Transactions ?
There isn’t a daily limit for the number of contactless payments. However, from time to time, when you shop using contactless payments, you’ll be asked to put your card into the machine and enter your PIN to verify it’s you, before you can use contactless again. This is part of EU regulations to help prevent fraud.
Contactless Payment Limits On Phones
How much can you tap on your phone?
If you use smartphone payment apps such as Google Pay or Apple Pay – there are NO spending limits when using these for contactless payments in Ireland.
Apple Pay provides a way of making contactless payments using your card with a smartphone. See Banks that have Apple Pay in Ireland
Apple Pay does not have a limit on contactless transactions, provided there is enough credit on the linked card. You will need to authorise every transaction by Touch ID or your passcode.
Google Pay on smartphones is also available with many debit/credit cards in Ireland for contactless payments . See Which Banks Use Google Pay in Ireland.
Google Pay allows transactions over €50, there is no limit on Google Pay contactless payments in Ireland – provided the available balance or credit limit exists. You will need to unlock the phone to spend over €50 . Although – there may be some shops in Ireland where the contactless terminal may not allow transactions above €50. (Tesco has been known to have limits in some stores.)
If your bank doesn’t charge for contactless card payments – then that will also be true for contactless payments made through your phone.
(Be aware though – that paying online with a debit card using Apple Pay or Google Pay will be treated as any other normal debit card transaction – and if your bank charges for debit card transactions, you will be charged.)
The popularity of Contactless Payments
Figures published by Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) showed that 2.4 million contactless payments were made per day in June 2022
The value of contactless payments in Q3 2022 rose by 25.8% to almost €4.8 billion. That’s equivalent to €52 million per day . This was the highest daily contactless spend in any quarter since data was collected in 2016
The average value of a contactless payment in Ireland is €16.70
Most of the major retailers in Ireland now accept contactless payments
Contactless Security
Using contactless payment does have the advantage of paying without worrying about someone else seeing you key in your pin.
It is also safer in terms of viruses on cash and payment machines.
The payment chip in the cards monitors all contactless payments made and if it detects several consecutive payments, it will ask the user to make a chip and PIN payment, to confirm it is still in the hands of the legitimate owner. Together with the €30 limit, this restricts the potential losses due to fraud (for which the cardholder would not be liable).
Contactless Charges
Currently, Irish bank charges for using contactless payments are mostly zero.
Note – AIB have a 20c fee listed for contactless transactions – but this is currently waived (since Covid).
See more figures on Bank Charges in Ireland.
Contactless Outside Ireland
The limit on contactless payments in the UK is £100 pounds from 15 October 2021. However – this limit won’t work with Irish bank cards used in the UK.
You can also use a contactless card to make payments outside Ireland. One place where they are really handy is on the London underground and other public transport in London. All London buses and tubes accept contactless cards – you just swipe them at the ticket barriers (in and out) and the relevant charge is debited from your account in one transaction at the end of the day.
(You will also incur the usual debit card charges for non Euro transactions.)
More Tips For Visiting London here
ATM Charges Overseas
Current Bank Account Charges in Ireland
